Apple has emerged triumphant in its case against Samsung over patent infringement: a California federal court has ruled in favor of the maker of the iPhone, citing that Samsung impeded on three Apple-owned patents.

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California's Judge Lucy Koh, who presided over the case, surmised that Samsung had encroached upon three Apple-patented features, including the "slide-to-unlock" screen and automatic word-correction. The ruling also covered "software or code capable of implementing any Infringing Feature, and/or any feature not more than colorably different therefrom" — more or less eschewing anything resembling soft-footed plagiarism (or in layman's terms: "Like it? Don't steal it").

However, there's a catch: the ruling only applies to Samsung's older smartphone models. 

Samsung products affected by the injunction include Admire, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy S II, Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch, Galaxy S II Skyrocket, Galaxy S III and Stratosphere devices. According to Koh's decision, a permanent injunction against the specified smartphones will take place in 30 days, barring their sale in the U.S.

The ruling over the patent case comes mere weeks after another lawsuit against Samsung, which awarded almost $120 million worth of damages to Apple; Samsung has since sought appeal.

Via: Mac World